Character associations and path analysis for horticultural traits and fruitfly infestation in oriental pickling melon (Cucumis melo var. conomon Mak.)

An experiment was carried out to study character associations and path analysis in 53 accessions of oriental pickling melon at the Department of Vegetable Science, College of Horticulture, Kerala Agriculture University, Thrissur during March to May 2016 in Randomized Complete Block Design (RBD) with two replications. Observations were recorded on 20 quantitative characters to assess the extent of character associations. Fruit yield per plant showed significant direct positive correlations to number of branches per plant (0.84), number of fruits per plant (0.81), seed cavity length (0.63), fruit length (0.57) and seed cavity breadth (0.33). Fruit fly infestation showed significant direct positive correlations to fruit weight (1.06), days taken for fruit maturity (0.99) and fruit girth (0.85). Significant direct negative correlations to fruit fly infestation were exhibited by fruit rind thickness and flesh thickness (−0.98) respectively.